The Cape Town Bioregional Plan
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The Cape Town Bioregional Plan Adopted as Council Policy1 on 19 August 2015 C43/08/15: RESOLUTIONS TAKEN BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR IN TERMS OF DELEGATED POWERS AND DECISIONS TAKEN TOGETHER WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE MAYORAL COMMITTEE: JULY 2015 Prepared by the City of Cape Town Municipality Energy, Environmental & Spatial Planning Directorate Environmental Resource Management Department August 2015 Edited by: Arne Purves E [email protected] Patricia Holmes E [email protected] 1 This plan has not been published in terms of NEM:BA (Act 10 of 2004), but adopted as Council policy. City of Cape Town Bioregional Plan Energy, Environmental & Spatial Planning | Environmental Resource Management Department [Blank Page] 2 City of Cape Town Bioregional Plan Energy, Environmental & Spatial Planning | Environmental Resource Management Department Executive Summary The Cape Town Bioregional Plan was adopted as City Policy in July 2015 (Annexure 3). It comprises a biodiversity profile for the bioregion, the Biodiversity Network and management guidelines. The Cape Town Biodiversity Network is a spatial plan that shows terrestrial and aquatic features that are critical for conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem functioning. These are classified as Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) and Critical Ecological Support Areas (CESAs) respectively. The Provincial Government of the Western Cape has incorporated the Biodiversity Network into the Western Cape Biodiversity Framework. The bioregion encompasses the City of Cape Town metropolitan area of 2,460km2. The Bioregional Plan adheres to the principles outlined in the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) and comprises a biodiversity profile, the Biodiversity Network (a map of biodiversity priorities), with accompanying land-use planning and decision-making guidelines, and additional management measures. It indicates Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) and Critical Ecological Support Areas (CESAs). The CBAs are required to meet national biodiversity targets for terrestrial and wetland ecosystems according to the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (Rouget et al. 2004). CBAs and CESAs are required to secure Cape Town’s unique biodiversity into the future and ensure sustainable development. The purpose of the Bioregional Plan is to inform and guide planning, environmental assessment and natural resource management by a wide range of sectors whose policies and decisions impact on biodiversity. It will provide a framework for all City line departments to align their environmental functions and responsibilities. The spatially explicit Biodiversity Network (CBA map) will facilitate forward planning that minimizes impacts on biodiversity. This will create a more integrated, cost- effective approach to environmental management and conservation in the bioregion. The intention of the Bioregional Plan is to provide critical information on biodiversity to guide forward planning and future development. The Bioregional Plan is aligned with the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (Driver et al. 2005) and National Biodiversity Framework and serves as City Policy for biodiversity priority areas in Cape Town. The Bioregional Plan aims to ensure that the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA, Act 107 of 1998) principles are applied within Cape Town in an effective and equitable manner, in order to avoid loss and degradation of natural habitat in Critical Biodiversity Areas. The Cape Town Biodiversity Network is a regularly updated, fine-scale systematic biodiversity plan. As natural habitat is being lost continuously to formal and informal developments, agriculture and mining, securing the Biodiversity Network is an urgent priority. Owing to Cape Town’s exceptional biodiversity richness and uniqueness, as well as the intensive pressures on the land, minimum national biodiversity targets can no longer be achieved for eight out of 19 national vegetation types found in the bioregion. The Biodiversity Network was integrated into the Cape Town Spatial Development Framework (CTSDF) which was then approved as the statutory spatial component of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) in terms of the Municipal Systems Act (Act 32 of 2000). Both The CTSDF and IDP embody the principles of sustainable development. The eight district Spatial Development Plans (SDPs) and Environmental Management Frameworks (EMFs) were approved by Council as spatial policy in terms of Section 4(10) of the Land Use Planning Ordinance and by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, with the concurrence of the national Minister, and 3 City of Cape Town Bioregional Plan Energy, Environmental & Spatial Planning | Environmental Resource Management Department in terms of the 2010 EMF regulations, respectively. The District SDPs inform and respond to the CTSDF and are the tools used on a daily basis to guide statutory land use decision-making. The EMFs must be taken into account in any application for Environmental Authorization. The Bioregional Plan objectives and guidelines find expression through the CTSDF and the district SDPs and EMFs. The mandated users of the Cape Town Bioregional Plan include the City, which must align the contents of the plan into future revisions of the IDP, CTSDF, EMFs and District SDPs. Note that the Cape Town Bioregional Plan is not in itself a multi-sectoral planning and assessment tool and that the CTSDF is the statutory land use management and decision-making plan used in guiding statutory land use decision-making in the City. In addition, any organ of state preparing an environmental implementation plan or environmental management plan should refer to the Bioregional Plan. Further mandated users include environmental decision-makers and the competent authorities prior to issuing environmental authorizations for: the ploughing of virgin land, prospecting and mining, and the granting of water licenses and water allocations. The Bioregional Plan will be monitored and reviewed on a five-yearly basis. The plan will be reviewed against a number of set biodiversity targets and indicators. These will include the biodiversity targets and indicators as set in the City’s State of Environment report. Acknowledgements The editors wish to thank all the contributors who assisted in the compilation of this Bioregional Plan, all the reviewers of the draft documents and the team behind the technical reports. The many contributions that have been made (starting in 2003) are too many to list, but it must be noted that this plan is the accumulation of the work of many people and organisations that are deeply committed to the protection and conservation of the City’s biodiversity. 4 City of Cape Town Bioregional Plan Energy, Environmental & Spatial Planning | Environmental Resource Management Department Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................................................................8 LIST OF MAPS ................................................................................................................................................8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...............................................................................................................................8 PART A 10 1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................10 1.1 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS ................................................................................................................ 12 1.3 INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL AND LOCAL OBLIGATIONS .............................................................................. 13 1.3.1 International ......................................................................................................................... 13 1.3.2 National ................................................................................................................................ 13 1.3.3 Local ...................................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 LEGISLATION ............................................................................................................................................ 15 1.4.1 Legal Framework of the Bioregional Plan ......................................................................... 15 2 POLICY AND STRATEGIES ..............................................................................................................16 2.1 PROVINCIAL SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK (PSDF) ........................................................................ 16 2.2 INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PLAN (IDP) ................................................................................................... 17 2.3 CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK .................................................................................... 17 2.4 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS (EMFS) & DISTRICT